U.S. stock futures mixed; Nvidia earnings spark little cheer
Investing.com-- The S&P 500 fell Wednesday, on fresh trade-related angst after President Donald Trump reportedly ordered U.S. chip software makers to stop selling to China, and the Federal Reserve’s May meeting minutes underscoring tariff-related uncertainty.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, or 244 points, the S&P 500 index fell 0.5%, and the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.5%
Trump orders US chip designers to stop selling to China
President Donald Trump’s administration ordered U.S. companies that supply software used in the manufacturing of semiconductors to stop selling their services to Chinese groups, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.
The news weighed on chipmakers, wit Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) ending the day in the red, just ahead of the latter’s quarterly results due after the market close.
Nvidia is forecast to post earnings per share of $0.893 on revenue of $43.12 billion for the three months to April 30, both up substantially from last year, according to Investing.com data.
The chipmaker is expected to have benefited from outsized domestic demand, especially as its biggest customers– Wall Street’s so-called AI hyperscalers– continued spending billions on building more data center capacity.
That said, the focus will be on Nvidia’s outlook, which is likely to set the tone for the tech industry going forward in 2025. Investors will also be watching for comments on Nvidia’s China sales, as the company grapples with more U.S. export controls and increased competition in the country.
CEO Jensen Huang recently criticized the U.S. export restrictions, calling them a "failure," and also forecast China becoming a $50 billion market in the coming years.
Elsewhere, Macy’s (NYSE:M) stock rose after the department store chain reported stronger than expected first-quarter results, while also lowering its full-year 2025 outlook to reflect the impact of tariffs, softer consumer discretionary spending, and increased promotional competition.
Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) shares surged after the apparel retailer reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations, despite slightly missing on revenue.
Dick’s Sporting Goods (F:DKS) stock gained after the sporting goods retailer reported better-than-expected first quarter results, with record sales and comparable store growth, while reaffirming its full-year 2025 outlook.
Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) stock plunged after the identity management software company’s cautious guidance amidst economic challenges caused investor unease.
Fed minutes flag tariff uncertainty
The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s May. 6-7 meeting released Wednesday showed that Fed policymakers preferred to persist with the wait-and-see approach to further rate cuts amid uncertainty about tariff-related risks to inflation and economic growth.
The minutes arrived just as remarks from Fed members including Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari warned against "looking through" the impact of such supply price shocks.
The shock to the economy from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, and uncertainty over U.S. trade policy, are forcing central banks to decide whether to focus on fighting inflation or supporting economic activity, he said.
Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.